New Hanover County Information Technology Department	Issued:  06/01/02
	Policy Number:  7-01
Subject:  Telephone System Policy

PURPOSE AND SCOPE:

The objective of this policy is to set acquisition objectives for phone systems in order to provide uniform telephone communication features across the many offices of New Hanover County Government.  This policy applies to all County Departments and Agencies.

CHANGE SUMMARY:

None. This is the original issue of this document.

POLICY:

The acquisition of each new phone systems or an upgrade to an existing phone system must be consistent with County’s Telecommunications Strategic Goals given in this document. The Director of Information Technology must approve all purchases and any exemptions to this policy.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIC GOALS

·        All County offices can be interconnected with a 4 digit dialing plan. The current Dial Plan is given in NHC Telephone Dialing Plan.

·        Any telephone can be reached by dialing the last four numbers of an extension.

a.      To the extent practical, all incoming lines will use a common prefix.

·        All County telephone users will have access to a common or integrated voice mail system.

a.      A telephone user will be able to forward a voice mail messages to any other user.

b.      A voice mail message can be broadcast to all voice mail users or to groups.

·        The telephone features and the user interface will be similar for all telephone stations in order to provide all users with common functionality.

The achievement of these goals will likely be a complex and costly process.  A system to achieve these goals must be procured in a cost effective manner that considers not only the initial cost, but the total cost of ownership over a multi-year period (5-10 years).

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS TO WATCH

• Voice over IP (VoIP). Voice over IP telephony uses the Internet Protocol (IP) digital transport infrastructure to connect telephone switches and stations. These systems offer several technical advantages over traditional telephone systems such as sharing cabling with computer networks and the ability to use the internet for communication transport.  VoIP messaging is still a maturing technology that we should continue to monitor.
• Unified Messaging. A Unified Messaging system integrates voice messaging and email messaging. A user can check all their voice and email systems from either a telephone or a computer.   Unified Messaging is another maturing technology of interest that we should monitor.

CHANGE HISTORY:

Version	Date	Comments
A	06/01/02	Original Document